Angel Of Fate (Fate Series Book 3)

by Kentowski, L. J.

  I sat up, leaning on my elbows, and gaped at Hunter. He was glaring at the wall by the swords, his eyes aglow with blue fire. His features were taut. He was in kill mode. I followed his gaze and spotted Braydon lying on the floor with several swords and shields piled on top of him. Luckily, none of them seemed to have pierced him, at least that I could see. He was lying so still, he might have been dead for all I knew. Wait… no… his chest was rising and falling.

  Don’t move. Don’t move. Don’t move, I chanted to myself. Hunter was like a lion, waiting for his prey to twitch an eyelash so he could strike again. If Braydon continued to play dead, he had a chance Hunter would leave him alone.

  Just as I thought it, Braydon opened his eyes and pushed himself up to sit.

  “Wait.” I struggled to stand. “Hunter… just… wait…” The tension emanating from him was amazing as his muscles pulsed, sending shock waves into the air around them. I finally gained my footing and grabbed onto one of his wrists. “Hunter, don’t,” I said in a sort of forceful plea. He spun his head toward me and peered into my eyes. I softened my voice as I added, “Please.”

  For a moment, he held my gaze, and I thought I actually might have convinced him to leave well enough alone. The clatter of metal from Braydon scrambling to get up broke the spell. Hunter turned back to face him, and I tightened my grip on his wrist but knew it was pointless.

  “It was only a matter of time before I killed one of them, Cassandra. I think we both knew that,” Hunter said.

  I didn’t want to look in Braydon’s direction. In fact, I didn’t want to see any of it. So I closed my eyes and held on to Hunter for dear life.

  CHAPTER THREE

  A sound to my left rallied my attention, and I realized a waft of air hit me when the door to the outside training area opened.

  Oh Lord, I thought. My eyes stayed closed as I continued to hang onto Hunter’s wrist. More angels were coming to Braydon’s aid and Hunter was planning to try and fight them all.

  “There will be no killing of angels today,” Hadraniel shouted, his voice booming as if canceling a training session instead of a death match.

  When I opened my eyes, Hadraniel had positioned himself an equal distance between Hunter and Braydon. Aviar lingered off to the side, eyes darting back and forth nervously.

  “Come now, Hadraniel,” Hunter said in a low, even tone. “With as many as you have here, you won’t even miss him.”

  I stole a glance at Braydon, expecting him to look, I don’t know, terrified because that’s what Hunter’s wrath usually did to people. Instead, he seemed extremely calm, maybe even some cockiness showing through. He caught my gaze, and I quickly turned back to Hadraniel.

  “As much as I know Braydon needs punishing for his troublesome ways, it will be at my hands, not yours. This…” he said, spreading his arms out, indicating Hunter and Braydon, “will not be tolerated within the walls of the Sanctuary.”

  “Neither will your angels touching what is mine,” Hunter said.

  Braydon scoffed at that, and I almost voiced my own opinion about being treated like a favorite dog toy. Choosing to take the high road, I figured now was probably not a good time to lay out the I am woman, hear me roar speech. Hunter was kind of old school that way. Very old school. I hadn’t had the proper opportunity to bring him up to speed on the times yet.

  “We have to work together here, Hunter,” Hadraniel said. “Braydon is one of my best soldiers, and he plays a big role in our plan to take down Caleb. I will have a talk with him about what’s appropriate and professional, but I won’t relieve him of his duty.”

  “Not good enough,” Hunter said, in a calm but steely voice.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” Braydon shouted.

  “Braydon, shut up,” Hadraniel’s reprimand was swift.

  This was going nowhere fast.

  “Hunter,” I said, pulling at his wrist so he’d look at me. It took a couple times, but he finally turned his face toward mine. “It’s not what you thought.”

  “It looked like he was molesting you,” he said, his tone now blunt and not as calm.

  “It’s definitely not what it looked like then. We were sparring. He got the better of me. It’s my fault. I dropped my guard. You need to let this one go.” I held his gaze, silently trying to convince him. Hunter was a stubborn man. Once he believed in something or someone, he became steadfast in his fight for it. I knew that for a fact because our love was something he fought for in more ways than anyone I’d ever known. In order to get him to walk away from this, I was counting on that. “Believe me,” I said.

  His jaw tensed, the muscles pulsing like a heartbeat, and I knew he was fighting hard to resist acting on his protective instincts. I hoped Braydon listened to Hadraniel’s order and kept his mouth shut. One word, and I’d lose my grip on Hunter. And it would be messy.

  He turned away from me and glared at Braydon. I braced myself, practically digging my nails into his arm in the process. Hunter didn’t seem to notice.

  “You better pray you don’t even dream about her at night because I’ll be there when you wake up. And if I ever hear her name cross your lips, I’ll tear them off with my bare hands.”

  It wasn’t a white flag, but at least he was still standing next to me and no blood was involved. Yet, at least. Braydon appeared ready to shed some of Hunter’s. Maybe it was exactly what Hunter was hoping for. My relief was short-lived as I held my breath waiting for Braydon’s reaction.

  Hadraniel didn’t give him the chance. The second Braydon’s mouth opened, Hadraniel rushed him, firmly placing a hand on his shoulder. I hadn’t heard Hadraniel say anything, but something must have passed between them because Braydon turned and walked away with Aviar at his heels.

  “I expect there won’t be any more problems between the two of you,” Hadraniel said. It was said as a statement, but he waited for acknowledgment.

  “As long as you keep him on his leash,” Hunter answered.

  Hadraniel’s face pinched. Anyone in the room could see how much he hated being challenged by someone he deemed a lesser being. These battles of wills between the two of them had become common since we’d been at the Sanctuary. If they both only realized how much alike they truly were.

  “I won’t thank you,” Hadraniel stated.

  Hunter smirked. “And I won’t say you’re welcome.”

  With that, Hadraniel left. Hunter continued staring at the door long after he’d departed. His tension had ebbed, but it was definitely not gone.

  “Well, that went better than I thought,” I said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. Now that everyone was gone, I started to feel like a kid who was bailed out of jail by mom or dad. The threat of public humiliation was gone, but the parental doom remained.

  Hunter took a deep breath and turned toward me. His features were tight again, only this time, his anger was directed squarely at me. His eyes seemed to pierce my skin as if sharpened icicles froze me in place. “Did it?” he said in full sarcasm mode. “I was thinking of an outcome altogether different.”

  “Killing off angels isn’t going to help our situation, Hunter. It’ll only make it worse. Don’t you think it’s bad enough we walk around like lepers here? You start taking angels out on your jealous whims and we’ll be voted off this island before you can say, ‘Me, Tarzan.’”

  When he narrowed his eyes, I knew my little tirade wasn’t taken well.

  “Maybe if you didn’t do things to put me in a jealous whim state-of-mind, Jane, we wouldn’t have a problem,” he shot back.

  My mouth hung open for a moment before I could even respond. The blood rush finally settled on my cheeks as adrenaline started to pick up. “You’re blaming me for this?”

  “No. I blame the piece of shit who took the liberty of laying his hands, among other things, on you. However, that opportunity would not have existed had you simply stayed away from him in the first place.”

  I was speechless. I mean, I knew Hunter w
as archaic when it came to the whole relationship principles, but this was downright caveman-ish. Closing my gaping mouth yet again, I put my hands on my hips while glaring at him.

  “I’m sorry. Am I not allowed to talk to anyone around here? Maybe I should just be the good little woman and stay in our room all day while you go off and do your manly thing. Should I wait naked in the bed for you so you can—”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Cassandra. I’m merely saying the angels here do not respect us, and you’re better off avoiding them. There are plenty of people here for you to talk to, other than the angels—Nora and Eric, your mom and dad, Anael.”

  “You’re as bad as they are, Hunter. You blanket them into a category, just as they have done with us. So where do I fit in?”

  That hit a nerve. He snarled as he grabbed my upper arm and pulled me to him. “You know that’s not true. If it were, I wouldn’t have put my life on the line for your family and Nora, as I have for you.”

  He had a point, but I was still pissed. I was sick of being told what to do, alienated. The truth was, I didn’t know where I fit in. I wanted to live life, but what life? Where did I really belong? Being a third wheel everywhere I went, always on the outskirts, never truly connecting with anyone, was getting old. Maybe it was just me, knowing I would never really be like any of them. They all had choices of what they wanted to be, even Eric, who was planning to have me turn him as soon as we got Caleb. I didn’t have that choice. I would always be stuck in the middle.

  “You will never be like them,” Hunter said as if he could read my thoughts once again. He released my arm and gently raised my chin until I looked up at him. With softened features, his gaze swept over my face, his thumbs tracing its path. “I never want you to be. You’re my soul, Cassandra. That’s where you belong. With me. Forever. Nothing or no one else matters.”

  His words radiated, a light penetrating the fog of my awareness. His touch, like a sculptor’s caress, defining the beauty of his art. I closed my eyes for a moment, reveling in the warmth he evoked in me, knowing he would always be the anchor I needed to stay afloat. I opened my eyes and locked them onto his.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  He kissed me on the lips with caution, before pulling back to look at me again.

  “Don’t ever thank me for loving you.”

  I ran my palms over his chest and smirked up at him. “Are you sure? There are many ways to say thank you.” I wanted us to feel normal again because I was tired of always fighting. It seemed the only time we didn’t argue was when we were intimate.

  He put his hand over mine and guided it farther down, where he had already grown hard. “Come to think of it, I did like that part you said about waiting naked for me when I was done with all my manly duties.”

  I snatched my hand away from his and pushed at his chest in a playful manner that made him smile. “You’re horrible.”

  He laughed, pulling me into his embrace. “Yes, I am. But you love it.”

  I grinned against his chest. He was right. I cherished everything about him, especially since he was the one who kept me grounded after all the mysteries surrounding my life unraveled in the last year or so. If it weren’t for him, I might be living as a servant to the king of the Underworld. Hunter had saved me from an eternity of Hell, physically and mentally. Way too often lately, my selfishness clouded the memory of who and what was important. It was no wonder I seemed so alone. My own fault, brought on by self-centered tantrums.

  I kissed him lightly on the chest, the heat of his body emanating from the T-shirt he wore and warming my lips. He squeezed me tighter.

  “Hey,” I said, pulling back and staring up at him. “I thought you were going with Eric to question a demon? You couldn’t have gone that fast. What happened?”

  “One of the angels accidentally cut off his head before I even made it down to meet Eric.” His sarcastic tone on the word accidentally was intentional.

  “They’re getting impatient,” I said, more as a thought out loud.

  “I’m getting impatient,” Hunter retorted.

  This waiting business was taking its toll on everyone. None of us would have ever guessed Caleb had the patience to refrain from attempting to at least steal the Sword for this long. If we had known, I’m not sure any of us would have agreed to the arrangements we were living with now.

  “I’m telling you, we need to up our game, Hunter. Raise the stakes.” I grabbed his hands in mine, squeezing them from my excitement. “Let me go out there. Better yet, let me go out there with the Sword. If that doesn’t draw him out, he’s not coming. And if that’s the case, this charade is over, and we can go on with our lives.”

  He was looking directly at me, but I could tell he was deep in thought. Was I finally getting through to him? I held my breath, waiting for his answer as if the next words from his mouth would make or break me.

  And break me they did.

  “No.”

  I stared at him for a long time as the tension started webbing its way through my body. How quickly he could swing my emotional control. When had I let everyone else dictate my life? I signed off on being bait but didn’t agree to be a puppet whose strings were so tightly wound it merely hung there, lifeless. As much as I loved Hunter, he was one of my puppet masters, and he wasn’t immune to the anger and resentment that were building deep within me. I couldn’t temper them much longer. They had reached the brim of containment, and I was ready to explode.

  I dropped his hands and shoved them away from me, let out a short chuckle, and fixed him with a haughty glare. “You know what? Forget I asked. I just remembered, you don’t own me, so I don’t need your permission. In fact, I don’t need anyone’s permission. I left my chains back in Hell.”

  His face hardened and his eyes narrowed on me. “You’re comparing me to Nergal?”

  “All I’m saying is I’m trying to put Hell behind me, but all everyone wants to do is keep me chained down. Including you. I’m done with being told what I can and cannot do. I’ll make those decisions from here on out.”

  A long stretch of silence followed as he pinned me in place with his eyes. I wasn’t used to his heated energy being directed at me, but I fought the urge to fidget under his gaze. Hunter was a predator by nature and a very intimidating one. He honed in on weakness. I was hoping my anger would be enough to overpower any weakness he might sense from me. But damn those eyes of his. They burrowed into my soul.

  “Didn’t you try that once before?” he said, his tone bitter. “Tell me, how did that work out for you?”

  He was referring to the times I had put my trust in Caleb, only to be deceived by him in the end, not once but twice. The first time, Hunter was sent back to Hell to be tortured daily, and I nearly got my best friend, Nora, turned into a demon. The second time, I was the one who ended up a prisoner of Hell. So my track record wasn’t great in the decision-making department, but I was a different person now. I’d survived Hell and helped bring down the devil. An experience such as that changes a person, makes them smarter and stronger.

  “You don’t need to stick my face in it. Nergal already took care of that back in Hell. I think I’ve learned my lesson, but thanks anyway.”

  A muscle in his jaw pulsed while he studied me as if seeing me for the first time.

  “No, Cassandra, I don’t think you have.”

  After one last penetrating look, he turned his back on me and walked out of the room, leaving me pent up with a comeback I had yet to form, breathless from the adrenaline pumping through my body, and worst of all, questioning what in the hell I’d just done.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I went down the hallway outside the training room with no particular destination in mind. The fight with Hunter was still heavy on my mind. It wasn’t so much the fact we fought, we seemed to do that a lot lately, but this one seemed more final than the rest. The look on his face before he had walked out haunted me. The pain in his eyes weighed on me. My words, my actions, they
caused that pain. For the first time, I’d mentioned my suffering in Hell during one of our fights, and I knew he blamed himself for taking so long to rescue me. I also knew it couldn’t be helped, but apparently that hadn’t stopped me from using it as a hit to the gut in the heat of the moment.

  The more I thought about it, the more awful I felt. I wanted to take it all back, yet I didn’t. What I really wanted was for him to realize I wasn’t the fragile little flower he’d stalked so many months ago. Hell had changed me. I was ready to fight for our freedom. My resolve was stronger on instinct now. I’d been training for months, perfecting the skills borne by angels and demons, and honing in on the abilities only I possessed. There had been a time I would have settled for just being protected, but not anymore. I’d been through too much. Maybe it was revenge that made me want to be an active part of this war, that baseless motivator capable of destroying civilizations. But hadn’t I earned that right?

  Whatever it was, it was causing me to lash out at the people I loved more often and dealing out apologies like Halloween candy. I was going to have to add a special treat in Hunter’s bag for this latest outburst. Then I could hit him with a few negotiations. Nicely. He’d need time to cool off, though, so I decided to wait until I saw him at dinner.

  Feeling satisfied with my best course of action, I realized I’d walked to the entrance of the gardens. It was one of my favorite places in the Sanctuary. The vibrant colors, smells, and peacefulness balanced me. Every step in the gardens seemed to wash away more and more of the negative energy that had festered within me since coming to the Sanctuary.

  I was about to open the door to enter the gardens when I heard another one open behind me.

  “Trouble in paradise?” a deep voice asked.

  I turned to see Braydon standing in the hallway. His hair was wet and glistening as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. My breath caught at the sight of him, barefoot and bare-chested, clad only in a pair of worn, faded jeans. Trouble indeed.